Please Enjoy All These Members of Congress Getting Dressed Down By Their Constituents

All the best videos and exchanges from this week's town halls.

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Jack Holmes and Ricki Harris

The crowds descending on Congressional town halls this week don't agree with their reps on much. The result is some vintage political cowardice, where congresspeople have ducked out of meetings early or haven't bothered to show up at all. Below are some highlights from the week. Let's go to the videotape!

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Dave Reichert

After hundreds of constituents marched to Dave Reichert's office in Issaquah, Washington, the congressman decided to hold a town hall—kind of. Maintaining that town halls are, of course, "not productive," Reichert took questions via Facebook Live instead.

If nothing else, the ordeal inspired the writing of this lovely song:

Leonard Lance

Republican Leonard Lance of New Jersey almost stood a chance at his town hall—and then he took a question about federally funding abortion. And then one about investigating Flynn's Russian ties. It was pretty much downhill from there. The 950 packed into the auditorium didn't hesitate to boo and catcall, and the hundreds outside were chanting.

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Oh, and there was this powerful piece of political protest as well:

To Lance's credit, he has scheduled another meeting in the same place for Saturday morning to continue taking questions.

Louie Gohmert

Louie Gohmert informed constituents in a letter that he would not be able to hold a town hall because of the "groups from the more violent strains of the leftist ideology, some even being paid, who are preying on public town halls to wreak havoc and threaten public safety." He then invoked the shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords to support his point. Giffords was not having it. "To the politicians who have abandoned their civic obligations, I say this: Have some courage," she said in a statement.

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Erik Paulsen

Erik Paulsen of Minnesota, now likened to Waldo as per his constituents' baked goods, wouldn't hold a town hall, so about 600 local residents did. He, of course, was a no-show. Unless you count him in cardboard form:

Bill Cassidy

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Constituents of Louisiana's sixth district made their intentions pretty clear from the get-go. Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana's opening prayer was interrupted when one person yelled a quick "Amen!" and then someone else a less subtle "Let's get on with it," according to The Times-Picayune. And with that, the 200 or so in the room (hundreds of others were outside) got right to the good stuff. In one exchange on healthcare, a constituent asked Cassidy, "Will you repeal Obamacare with or without this magic you've concocted?"

The Senator also faced questions on Betsy DeVos, but his attempts at explaining her family's donations to his campaign were met with a steady chorus of "sell out" chants from the crowd. Cassidy stayed calm during the meeting, but noted to the State Chaplain afterwards, "Wow, they booed the name of Jesus."

Tom Cotton

After more than 1,000 people lined up outside his event, Arkansas' junior senator took questions from an admirably large and unrestrained audience Wednesday night. The result, early on, was what felt like a formative moment in this new movement:

There was an indignant triumph in her voice, and the cheer that greeted her wasn't at all surprising. The words of another attendee were less sunny, but no less galvanizing:

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Other times, things were simpler:

Mitch McConnell

The Senate Majority Leader braved the treacherous terrain of his home state and was met by a constituent who knew her stuff. First, she nailed the fact that the coal industry is very unlikely to come back regardless of action the Trump White House and its allies in Congress take, largely due to larger economic factors (particularly the rise of natural gas). Second, she correctly pointed out that repealing Obamacare will strip coal miners, many of whom are McConnell's constituents in Kentucky, of their black lung medical benefits. Third, she referenced McConnell's showdown with Senator Elizabeth Warren on the Senate floor earlier this month.

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Also, the look on McConnell's face as he realized what was about to happen is something approaching priceless.

Tom McClintock

The representative for California's fourth district played host to around 400 constituents, among whom was a woman who said Obamacare dropped her monthly healthcare premiums from $400 to $1. She asked McClintock what exactly he would do to keep her care affordable:

His answer was less than specific. Then, on the topic of climate change, he said it wasn't worth changing our economy over because the Earth has been warming "on and off since the Ice Age." This also did not go down well.

Dave Brat

The Virginia Congressman, who in 2014 made his name trouncing the sitting Majority Leader of his party in a primary, didn't seem like such an outsider maverick type this week—except geographically. He held his town hall at the very edge of his district, around 60 miles from where most of his constituents live. But he still couldn't beat the heat:

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Brat: "I don't think I said anything very controversial."

Person in crowd: "Yeah you did! And stupid!"

Chuck Grassley

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"You're the man that talked about the death panels. We're going to create one great, big death panel in this country, that people can't afford to get insurance." There's a line the Democratic Party likely never would have come up with, but which played pretty well here.

Grassley also heard from an Iraqi man who worked as a translator for American forces there, and whose immigration status is now under threat:

Mr. Grassley, a long-serving senator, was offered a gift from a 62-year-old Democratic pig farmer named Chris Petersen: a bottle of Tums. "You're going to need them in the next few years," Mr. Petersen told the senator, drawing laughter from a crowd packed into a room at a firehouse in Iowa Falls, north of Des Moines.

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Buddy Carter

The Georgia congressman dueled with constituents in Savannah over repealing Obamacare, the Russian Connection, Planned Parenthood, and even teaching religion in public schools. Carter was roundly booed but seemed to hold his own. In the end, though, he snuck out a side exit with some staff rather than face down the big crowd outside the room, according to SavannahNow:

When the meeting concluded, Carter left through a side exit with staff rather than meet the crowd, which at the time was chanting for him to come out — something he attributed to safety concerns and the need to get to a scheduled dinner event. "I would have liked to have stuck around, but security was concerned about the safety," Carter said in a phone call after the meeting. "I regret that. I was really happy about the turnout. Everyone has the right to speak, and I want to give them that right. I wish we could have been more cordial."

Steve Womack

In response to calls to investigate the alleged ties between President Trump's staff and Russian officials, the Arkansas congressman told the crowd they "just want to investigate everybody." This did not go down well—particularly with one member of the crowd, who reminded Womack of a little thing called "Benghazi."

Joni Ernst

The freshman Iowa senator left her town hall after 45 minutes to jeers and chants of, "do your job."